Blackhawks prospect Nick Lardis relieved ‘scary’ leg injury wasn’t worse

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As Chicago Blackhawks forward prospect Nick Lardis lay crumpled on the ice after suffering a leg injury during a recent OHL playoff game, his mind battled between optimism and pessimism.

“At the moment, it’s kind of you don’t know what it is,” Lardis said on Thursday. “You have a lot of pain. You’re kind of thinking of the worst but also being optimistic as well, hoping it’s something not as bad so you can get back out there in a game or two. … It was obviously pretty scary what happened.”

The injury to Lardis, who declined to offer specifics about the nature of the leg injury, didn’t fulfill his optimism, but it also didn’t come anywhere near the worst possible outcome. Lardis sought multiple medical opinions after the injury occurred on April 13 and was given the same encouraging news: His injury wasn’t severe.

“There’s no long-term effects that will come from this injury,” Lardis said. “There’s no surgery involved or anything. It’s just more of resting it for a little bit, like a week or two, then starting the rehabbing as well. I should be good, hopefully, in a couple weeks here, or a little longer. I’ll have the whole summer here to kind of train and be 100 percent, ready for next year, which is really good.”

Andrew Gibson has been suspended for two games after kneeing Chicago Blackhawks’ Nick Lardis, who is now injured and out of the lineup for the OHL playoffs. The 19-year old NHL prospect has 71 goals in 65 GP this past regular season. pic.twitter.com/B2eGDHtFJj

— Chicago Blackhawks News Hub (@HawksNewsHub) April 15, 2025

Lardis was bummed to miss out on the rest of the Brantford Bulldogs’ playoff run, which ended four games after his injury, but he was grateful that his future, especially as he embarks on his first pro season, wouldn’t be impacted. He’s now back home in Oakville, Ontario, resting and resetting before he starts his offseason training. He normally takes some time off from skating, so his rehab shouldn’t affect his usual offseason routine.

“It sucks what it is, but I’m really thankful it’s not anything really bad and I can be 100 percent ready going into next year and have the whole summer to train,” Lardis said.

Lardis, who turns 20 in July, took a major step in his game this past season after putting in the work last offseason. He worked on becoming a more pro-type goal scorer, and that resulted in one of the most prolific OHL scoring seasons in nearly two decades. He scored 71 goals in 65 regular-season games and became the league’s first player to hit 70 goals since John Tavares in the 2006-07 season. He also scored 11 goals in seven playoff games.

“I’ve said this a couple of times: If you told me it was on my bingo card getting 70 goals, I probably wouldn’t believe you,” Lardis said. “It was awesome. I thought I had a really good summer coming into this last year. I thought it was a really good year with the production standpoint. Just want to keep building momentum like I did for this year next year and hopefully have a good year next year wherever it is.”

Lardis knows where he has to focus on this offseason heading into pro hockey. At 5 feet, 11 inches and 185 pounds, Lardis knows it’s all about his strength at the next level. He did make some strides in that area this past season.

“I think I showed more of scoring more goals around the net, not being afraid to get to the net, playing a little more physical, like in the playoffs here as well,” Lardis said. “I think the big part that I want to keep continuing on, obviously, is — I guess anyone can say this going into pro from a junior level — just keep working on the strength. Obviously, that’s going to be a big part of my game. Just keep continuing to get stronger. A little more detailed into that is make sure I’m having a higher percentage of winning puck battles, whether the on the walls or just chasing for a puck in the corner, making sure I’m ready for that. Obviously going to the pro level, I’m going to be going against guys who are almost double my age or a lot older than what the junior level is like. Just making sure I’m ready for that competition is something I’m definitely going to be focused on.”

Lardis isn’t setting any expectations for where he starts next season. He could be with the AHL’s Rockford IceHogs. He could be with the Blackhawks. What did motivate him and he loved seeing this past season was how many young players got a chance in the NHL with the Blackhawks.

“There’s a lot of excitement,” Lardis said. “It’s obviously a younger team now looking at the end of the year, seeing all the younger guys, (Oliver) Moore, Ryan Greene, (Sam) Rinzel, all those guys getting a big opportunity at the end of the year. It’s really exciting to see that I’ve kind of been in that age group where they are getting that opportunity. It’s cool. It’s really motivating to see that for the summer to think about that. Wherever I start next year, it’s motivating to see how those guys are getting the opportunities to perform at the best league in the world. It’s definitely going to be a big motivation for me this summer to get to that level.”

(Photo: Chris Tanouye / Getty Images)

This news was originally published on this post .

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